U.S. Rep. Greg Casar and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn engaged in a heated exchange at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport over unpaid TSA agents during a partial government shutdown. The dispute centered on funding for the Department of Homeland Security and whether to provide specific or full funding for TSA. The confrontation occurred as Cornyn delivered Whataburger to TSA agents, aiming to highlight Democrats' perceived role in blocking funding.
A tense exchange unfolded Monday at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport between U.S. Rep. Greg Casar and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn as the Republican senator arrived to deliver Whataburger to TSA agents working without pay during a partial government shutdown .
Cornyn had organized the visit to draw attention to what he described as Democrats blocking a Department of Homeland Security funding bill, leaving TSA screeners unpaid during one of Casar, a Democrat who represents Austin in Congress, arrived ahead of Cornyn and was speaking with reporters when the senator showed up. The two then had a heated back-and-forth that was captured on video.Casar asked Cornyn to support a bipartisan bill to fund TSA specifically. Cornyn refused, saying standalone TSA funding was "not acceptable" and calling on Democrats to support full DHS funding. "Instead of bringing people burgers, he should bring them their paychecks, which involves funding TSA," Casar said after the exchange. Cornyn responded, telling Casar to direct his message to Democrats. "Why don't you tell your Democrats to vote to pay these poor people?" Cornyn said. Cornyn's office said he has voted four times in the past month to reopen DHS and allow screeners to be paid. His office blamed congressional Democrats for blocking the funding bill for five weeks. Democrats, including Casar and Democratic U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Austin, have voted against fully funding the Department of Homeland Security unless reforms are made to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "We believe that ICE should be held to account for its wrongdoing, and that we should hold ICE to the same standards that would apply to the Austin Police Department or the sheriff," Doggett told CBS Austin on Monday. Mark P. Jones, a political science professor at Rice University, said the stalemate in Congress will require at least one side to concede something. "There are three main ways that this shutdown can end. One is that Democrats effectively give in to most of the Democratic Party's demands. The other is that Democrats effectively allow Republicans to continue business as usual, or that the two each give some ground and reach a compromise, whereby they both lose some things but gain some things," Jones said. Following the confrontation with Casar, Cornyn met privately with staffers at the airport to discuss the shutdown. He shared that he learned staffing issues at TSA were not contributing to long security lines at the Austin airport."Thankfully, these brave men and women are doing their job and not calling in sick and not quitting," Cornyn said. "It's called spring break, it's called South By Southwest, it's just a lot of demand from the traveling public."A tense exchange unfolded Monday at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport between U.S. Rep. Greg Casar and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn as the Republican senator arriA 23-year-old Austin man has been charged with murder after a fatal shooting at an apartment on McKinney Falls Parkway late Sunday night, the Travis County SherThe Round Rock Police Department are investigating a disturbance after there were reports of shots fired at a trampoline park Saturday evening.At around 6:55 pDeparting passengers saw long TSA and bag check lines for a third day at the Austin airport Sunday morning.PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Long lines for TSA continue at AuFour people were transported and one is in critical condition after a rollover collision in Mustang Ridge Sunday evening.Mustang Ridge Police stated just befor
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